the post office and our mayor and the incredible hard work with stewart milk and other thank you for continuing to spread the message worldwide. i know that supervisor wiener acknowledged a couple of foreperson folks but thank you carol who served with harvey milk (clapping) and, of course, bev who represented the district that harvey milk represented. (clapping.) i'm very pleased that attorney general harris mentioned jim ray involving because harry getting to where he was possible i agree the best way to honor harvey milk is to and decade his work for social justice and equality

will but i want to be clear about equality under the law it's important we want everyone to have the same legal rights but that's in th equality that harvey milk was talking about this equality was when it comes to the social and connective conditions under which people live in this city my country (clapping) and by - by that when it comes to social economic equality we have a ways to go. we in san francisco have accomplished be a lot yet i stand here before you living in a city that has the fastest growing equality we're second behind atlanta being the second

unequal cities and soon, we'll overtake atlanta we need to redecade ourselves inform closing the inequality gap it's not consistent with the quality that harry died for there's a big diverse within the have and have not's so the lgbt community its not enough to have equal rights we have to stop the gap 40 percent of homeless youth in san francisco are be lgbt 29 percent of homeless people in san francisco are lgbt and many of the people are being evicted from the community we want a society that is fully an equal but equality goes beyond the law if he wanted to

give them hope let's redecade this so it works for everyone not just san francisco (clapping) >> when san francisco gay men's courthouse was 4 weeks old they made they're first porn's on the city hall for the candlelight for george moscone and as that moment to include sex all orientation it's encouraging going on to fight the fight for equality and freedom. please welcome the san francisco gay men's chorus under the direction of this gentleman.

>> ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ in tell me where to go tell me what to do. i - someplace where i can become every law. conflict that lets me be me. just me.

san francisco i am calling. i am hoping. san francisco. i am - i'm hoping and i'm hoping you'll help me. san francisco. i am hoping that you will

(inaudible). san francisco. set me free. and i'm wondering - . let me hear you say.

san francisco. i am hoping i'm hoping you'll hold me. san francisco. i am hoping i'm hoping you'll help me.

i'm hoping you'll help. san francisco. i am hoping that you welcome the promise. san francisco.

(clapping.) >> ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ got to have hope for today. just to stay alive. just to stay alive. you've got to give us hope you've got to give us hope. you've got to give us hope. you've got to give us hope. you've got to give us hope that we believe if you've got to give

them hope give them give them give them hope. you've good neighbor policy got to give them hope you've got to give them hope they can see. you've got to give them hope. you've got to give them hope they can feel they can building in you've got to give them hope they can come give them give them give them hope give them give them hope firefighter give them hope (clapping) give them hope (clapping) you've got to give them hope. you've got to give them hope (clapping) you've got to give them hope (clapping) you've got to give them hope. (clapping.) you've got to give them hope

>> hope. give them hope. hope. (clapping.) >> i love the gay mention chorus thank you so much this was awesome. it's my pleasure to introduce stewart i know you know stewart is harvey's envelope he was a teenager when harry was assassinated he has taken on harry's mammal tell he travels around the world spreading harry's hope thank you global

level to working tirelessly to inspire hope in others who wouldn't have it otherwise. stewart (clapping) i'm not sure this everyone got to hear the loudspeaker announcement when the chorus was introduced let me tell you again they're first public performance was at the amazing seaman's candlelight vigil to this day is humanities eloquently voice so, please join me in giving them another routinely they put this together in a week's notice (clapping) it's such an honor to be here in

san francisco city hall with the type of diverse carl served with my usage on the board of supervisors is here my usage did a lot of causes that people thought were losing causes he ran a couple of times and lost but in the 11 months he challenged a lot of existing fierce of what could be and dreams of what we can co- create so when a man a fellow brown naming gordon decided to run for president of the board of supervisors my usage made a point of joining carol silver and ella in supporting gordon even though they knew they were

going to louis lose and why he said i want san franciscans to dream there will be an asian president board of supervisors and maybe a asian mayor of the san francisco that's harry's dream i saw what we have in this great mayor, i get often asked am i sad that my usage didn't see the day when we have 9/11 drafts and xhaem shows we're i don't know people in treasure island that will be having difficult table conversations having conversations and standing up for who they are in school yards and not only lgbt

people but men anyone who skins skin is different or religion or non-risen is different those were dreams he did get to see them he got to see today when this wonderful city of san francisco would be this beaming light we have a decision that the not only a-year-old people think it's old hat that the sprusht knocked down a ruling a federal discretionary law dolled the dorm don't remember a woman named edit was not going to take

this she didn't have a law she said i'm not going to take this (clapping) he dreamed of the overcame people that would rise that to injustice if their own lives and dreamed as a society would come together and support minority like in a red state like arizona we had a discretionary law and for the fritter we've seen a rise up led by corporations and different faith organizations and people of different colors who said we won't tolerate this no way and we got a governor to veto that legislation. historic (clapping) but as much as we are in the

best of times in the united states i spend a lot of time abroad we're in the worse ways time abroad with one stroke of a pen over a billion people went background with india recriminals the people because of who they love and who having they a afghan followed suit. let me share with you one of the reasons i have global right in my experience when i was 20th century i got to go to a conference if north america rob with the decade on women there was a short black woman who got up and a room of people who looked like me at conference of women in north america rob age

of he said if you come here because you want to help me go home. we have nothing to talk about. if you have come here because you want to help me and people like me go home we have nothing to talk about you could hear a pin drop but if you come here because i understand your liberation is down with mine then let us work together that's the answer to the global equality issue your liberation is down with people in eastern upper and people in and africa we have a self-interest it can't be ultimate lyric we have a self-interest to make sure that no one is a sclas citizen that's

the dream of harvey milk (clapping) ann and i are going to close this beautiful ceremony by asking a couple of people that we have noticed that deserve recognition in addition to the co-sponsors and in addition to all our esteemed speakers we're going to ask some people to come up is that okay >> i think we should rather than do that i think that everyone who knew and loved harry because if i start saying names. >> i'll list some. >> we've said steve have an and carol. >> all the staff people. >> the staff people you started the entire thing thank you very much. >> and, of course, the court

system come on up. (clapping.) i think we should bring the court system donna. and cal silver (clapping) ross and everyone who knew harry that was please come up we'll have a great photo opportunity and everyone from the harvey milk foundation and equality in the house come on up are your future the folks being trained not only in revocations but diversity come on up jose cisneros come on up. post office folks by the way, we've got the post office general we've got those cards i

promised i'd mention the names. james wid he will come on up. i'm going to need our help. ross post master for san francisco. affidavit stou please come on up folks from the milk club everyone who has felt something from harvey and his legacy this is a photo opening for the angles come on up danny. this is the representatives by the way, san francisco a mayor a board of supervisors, and a community of people who have in their heart the belief that we got to give them hope.

the yeses as my usage said you can't live on hope alone but without hope life is not living thank you harry and thank you san francisco (clapping) >>

>> what if you could make a memorial that is more about information and you are never fixed and it can go wherever it wants to go? everyone who has donated to it could use it, host it, share it. >> for quite a great deal of team she was hired in 2005, she struggled with finding the correct and appropriate visual expression. >> it was a bench at one point. it was a darkened room at another point. but the theme always was a theme of how do we call people's attention to the issue of speci species extinction. >> many exhibits do make long detailed explanations about species decline and biology of birds and that is very useful for lots of purposes. but i think it is also important to try to pull at the strings inside people.

>> missing is not just about specific extinct or endangered species. it is about absence and a more fundamental level of not knowing what we are losing and we need to link species loss to habitat loss and really focuses much on the habitat. >> of course the overall mission of the academy has to do with two really fundamental and important questions. one of which is the nature of life. how did we get here? the second is the challenge of sustainability. if we are here how are we going to find a way to stay? these questions resonated very strongly with maya. >> on average a species disappears every 20 minutes. this is the only media work that i have done. i might never do another one because i'm not a media artist

per se but i have used the medium because it seemed to be the one that could allow me to convey the sounds and images here. memorials to me are different from artworks. they are artistic, but memorials have a function. >> it is a beautiful scupltural objective made with bronze and lined with red wood from water tanks in clear lake. that is the scupltural form that gives expression to maya's project. if you think about a cone or a bull horn, they are used to get the attention of the crowd, often to communicate an important message. this project has a very important message and it is about our earth and what we are losing and what we are missing and what we don't even know is gone. >> so, what is missing is

starting with an idea of loss, but in a funny way the shape of this cone is, whether you want to call it like the r.c.a. victor dog, it is listen to the earth and what if we could create a portal that could look at the past, the present and the future? >> you can change what is then missing by changing the software, by changing what is projected and missing. so, missing isn't a static installation. it is an installation that is going to grow and change over time. and she has worked to bring all of this information together from laboratory after laboratory including, fortunately, our great fwroup of researche e-- g researchers at the california academy. >> this couldn't have been more site specific to this place and we think just visually in terms of its scupltural form it really holds its own against the architectural largest and grandeur of the building.

it is an unusual compelling object. we think it will draw people out on the terrace, they will see the big cone and say what is that. then as they approach the cone tell hear these very unusual sounds that were obtained from the cornell orinthology lab. >> we have the largest recording of birds, mammals, frogs and insects and a huge library of videos. so this is an absolutely perfect opportunity for us to team up with a world renown, very creative inspirational artist and put the sounds and sights of the animals that we study into a brand-new context, a context that really allows people to appreciate an esthetic way of the idea that we might live in the world without these sounds or sites. >> in the scientific realm it is shifting baselines.

we get used to less and less, diminished expectations of what it was. >> when i came along lobsters six feet long and oysters 12 inches within they days all the oyster beds in new york, manhattan, the harbor would clean the water. so, just getting people to wake up to what was just literally there 200 years ago, 150 years ago. you see the object and say what is that. you come out and hear these intriguing sounds, sounds like i have never heard in my life. and then you step closer and you almost have a very intimate experience. >> we could link to different institutions around the globe, maybe one per continent, maybe two or three in this country, then once they are all networked, they begin to communicate with one another and share information. in 2010 the website will launch, but it will be what you would call an informational website

and then we are going to try to, by 2011, invite people to add a memory. so in a funny way the member rely grows and there is something organic about how this memorial begins to have legs so to speak. so we don't know quite where it will go but i promise to keep on it 10 years. my goal is to raise awareness and then either protect forests from being cut down or reforest in ways that promote biodiversity. >> biodiverse city often argued to be important for the world's human populations because all of the medicinal plants and uses that we can put to it and fiber that it gives us and food that it gives us. while these are vital and important and worth literally hundreds of billions of dollars, the part that we also have to be able to communicate is the more spiritual sense of how important it is that we get to live side

by side with all of these forms that have three billion years of history behind them and how tragic it would be not commercially and not in a utilitarian way but an emotio l emotional, psychological, spiritual way if we watch them one by one disappear. >> this is sort of a merger between art and science and advocacy in a funny way getting people to wake unand realize what is going on -- wake up and realize what is going on. so it is a memborial trying to get us to interpret history and look to the past. they have always been about lacking at the past so we proceed forward and maybe don't commit the same mistakes.